The answer, given to me by a friend re the question as to why I don't stop working at weight & who cares, is that I care & I would be miserable if I gained 100 or so pounds again.

So the game is afoot & my queenly quest continues. I am frankly relieved to be done with the complexity of the multiple challenge. My weight goal this week is just to lose some or maintain. Then I will be in St. Patrick's Day mode & will do some personal holiday challenge.

I did weights & 2000 of the steps today. Still awaiting news on business & contract matters, might as well refocus on getting the eating right as business & career is not in alignment.

Trader Joe's, which I rarely bother driving to these days may be in order.

Am2 and Marie, really enjoying your talk about maintenance calories. I am so tired of getting to goal weight and pounding(over time) my way back up the scale. It is really sneaky some times. I have a feeling I may have to keep a calorie count and figure out the tipping point for my body. My other area of confusion is the question, is a calorie a calorie no matter what you eat. So if I stay within my calorie range but start eating high fat cheeses will this also be a deal breaker. What's your opinion ladies. Also, is a cal eaten late at night liable to stick straight to your body?

Hi Ladies. Enjoying my break in Florida although it is a bit boring. My husband and daughter are working so I am spending most of my time reading except for a daily trip to the grocery store and then cooking dinner. So far I finished King Rat and Beyond the Beautiful Forevers. Now I am reading The Paris Wife. There is a very nice walking trail nearby that hubby I hit yesterday during the lunch hour and will probably go again today.

My take on calories is that the make up of the calories is important. Especially when restriciting your calories for weight loss, if the calories are not dense with nutrition, you will be hungry pretty quickly. At least cheese is fairly nutritious but cake, cookies, bread and alcohol are pretty difficult to include when restricting your calories unless you are going to accept being hungry some of the time. But more than the weight loss factor, I simply believe it is wise to feed yourself well for your health and vitality. Now how good a job I do at that is another matter entirely!

Glad you are enjoying your vacation, Tera. Sounds like a peaceful time for you.

I do actually agree with you about needing to eat as nutrient dense as possible when restricting calories.

For me, though, if I don't get some "bad" carbs now and then, I am constantly hungry, depressed or brain fogged and I end up having a binge. Just me.

That said, I've been reading "Wheat Belly." I extremely dislike the word "belly" but anyhow it is an interesting book, although I also dislike popular science and I ... well, never mind my opinions lol.

There is a large selection of books based on that book in iBooks, including cookbooks. I may decide to run a test on the idea of not eating wheat. I'm greally not concerned with gluten at all as I am not sensitive per se to gluten. Just want to see if a wheat free diet would make me feel better.

Probably will never do it, but it's an idea.

Did 10,000 steps by 9:30 a.m., usually I break it up through the day and it seems like forever. Had a very nice morning of walking and thinking in park and around neighborhood.

THEN bought a piece of strawberry bakery cake and only ate some of the frosting and about a bite or two of the cake, threw the rest away.

Am2, glad your question about why stay in the fight was rhetorical and I believe your friend answered perfectly. I sometimes have that fleeting thought but then I watch as my sister battles with her weight and all the health issues. I started on the decision to not be fat any longer with the reason being health. So when that flittering thought blows through my brain, I remember the promise I made to myself that I didn’t want my family’s propensity to diabetes.

Diana, I firmly weight wise, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. That said, eating that high fat cheese that is full of fat isn’t good for your heart. Let’s say 3 ounces, which is all that much, 330 cals. My whole dinner tonight was 322 cals and it was healthy. Not much that will clog my arteries and make my heart potentially give out. You know, I never thought about that until recently. I guess 51 had me thinking about the “c’est la vie” attitude when I hear about a 48 year old man or woman dying of a heart attack (I’m talking about seeing a news headline, etc, not someone I know. Finally it clicked in my brain that some of these heart attack victims are younger than me. That’s when I started choosing healthier (as opposed to totally healthy) choices. Comes back to health. This time heart related. To discuss your second question, everything I’ve read says that what time you eat your calories is moot, that the late in the day is a myth. That said, if it works for you to close the kitchen at 6:00, then it works. Lately I’ve read a lot of studies that says breakfast isn’t big important. I think it’ll all be figured out in another century, not in time for me.

Tera, oh to be reading in the Florida sun. I’m feeling might sad for you. I totally agree that empty carbs are easier to overeat and float through the stomach to emptiness so fast, that the make up of the calorie is important.

The prednisone is making the #$%*#$% asthma better. Only used the rescue inhaler twice today. Once before teaching an inservice and having to talk (that’s mighty hard when you can’t breath) and the second time before ellipticalling. Since I didn’t post my cals yesterday, they were 1257 with a nice 1.7 mile doggie walk. Didn’t plan to go that far, but my bronchial tubes behaved. Todays calories 1339 with the elliptical workout (not a vigorous one). So I’m feeling better and lower calorie consumption is so much easier with DH on swing shift.
Marie

PS Am2, we posted nearly the same time. at the strawberry cake. You do make me laugh and smile.

__________________Dedicated to logging every morsel for the next three months. Clearly that three months will never end.

Marie, lol, it wasn't rhetorical or fleeting. I had been having that thought about many things in my life, but definitely I am staying in the fight to live at a sane weight.

More reasons include knees, the arm with the plate (feels better for some reason when I am on the light side), my deceased younger brother, my health conscious older brother (he worries), and many more. Plus no matter what the situation, what is the sense in losing more than 100 pounds over a long period of time & then reversing that. Better to stay in the fight.

Glad the asthma is better.

My cals: 1610.

Lol, re that cake. It looked delicious but just wasn't.

Here's a thought. If I did the no wheat experiment I would have to get off of bakery cake treats. That would not be hard & would save calories.

I went back and calculated the calories I have consumed this week and was a bit suprised they were so high. I find it terribly easy to convince myself that I am eating well when I am clearly not.I tell myself something like "oh those lunch calories were low and breakfast was very healthy so I can indulge some at dinner." Pure hooey-plus my" indulge some" is actually " indulge quite a bit". It is a bit difficult being around two people that are not particularly concerned about what they eat. My daughter is one of those lucky people that naturally does not overeat although I still wish she had more interest in eating healthy food. Her rule of eating is probably just easy, filling and tastes good please, in that order. My husband is on vacation and plans to eat healthier starting next week. However, in the end it is my choice no matter what.

Am2-You are definitely right to stay attuned to your weight and fitness goals. I know I am so much happier after losing thirty pounds and truly wish I would have done it sooner. It would be absolutely dreadful to put it back on. I am seriously considering giving up gluten(along with some others) for three weeks starting next week. I have been thinking about this for about a month now and really want to give it a whirl.

Marie-Asthma stinks-I am glad the prednisone is kicking it's can to the curb. Congrats on the great calorie counts. My husband is out of town next week so thus the plan to start the three week detox. Not only can I control the food enviroment, I will probably be a bear to be around for the first few days at least. I expect a lot of angst and whining hopefully to be followed by happiness and enlightenment. Wow, a lot of emotions wrapped up in eating.

Am2, I'm glad you're staying in the fight. It is worth it. But I know you know that. I thought of you just a bit ago. I went to Starbucks thats in a Safeway. They're getting their Valentine day treats out for all the lovely celebrations. And what do I see??? Red Velvet White Choc Chip Cookies. Really??? Must they??? I walked quickly by and got my skinny mocha.

Tera, I really think unless you log the calories as you go, it is so easy to play that mind game that the calories didn't really add up to what they truly were. at the "indulge some" is actually "indulge quite a lot". I've been in that mindset before.

I have to change yesterday's record of 1339 cals to 1349 because I swapped a dab of whip cream to an espresso toffee last night. I know 10 cals isn't a big deal but I figure if I'm posting it, I'll be honest about it. Right now I'm at 867 cals and should be able to stay on track. Funny thing, I was needing that cup of tea often the first couple weeks of being on the track but this week I haven't needed it. I did enjoy a cup after lunch just because I was cold. I love that the munchie monster has been kicked to the curb!
Marie

__________________Dedicated to logging every morsel for the next three months. Clearly that three months will never end.

Tera, I get that way with cals, too, if I don't log immediately, I get a little lax. But using the phone apps like My Net Diary and MFP, which worked well for me and which I may someday go back to, had the opposite effect of making me very discouraged sometimes when I saw the calories mounting constantly during the day. Using the Fitday PC forced me to sit down and actually log and compute and slow down several times a day to log, which would be harder if I worked outside my home office. But in order not to forget to add something, I use the phone to send myself an email when I need to remember I ate something out and to log it when I return to the office. Kind of old-fashioned, seems to keep me focused.

Marie, I log every single dab, too. Good for you.

I even log Splenda at 5 calories a packet (it is 3 calories but I hate non round numbers).

I am starting "40 days and 40 nights," the EAT WHEAT FREE EXPERIMENT begins early (was going to wait until Sunday) as was pretty well there the past few anyway. There are 40 days until the Vernal Equinox and a lot of changes are taking place in my life and in that new spirit and having had fun reading Wheat Belly, I’m experimenting during the holiday themed seasons of Valentine’s Day, St. Paddy’s Day and the 1st Day of Spring (Vernal Equinox, March 20) to see if wheat free is for me, whee! This is Day 40, counting backwards!

Am2, we are totally opposites on the phone/PC logging. If I don't log throughout the day (with my phone) then I tend to get lax. For all the people that think one diet is the only way, they should read what goes on here. What works for one definitely doesn't work for the other.

I ellipticalled this morning (woke up 30 min before alarm) because I wasn't going to do it after work. My friend and I are going skiing and 12 hours of quard recovery between workouts isn't as good as 24 hours. So that's done. But now that I'm home from work, I'm like "I need to workout". Not a bad mentality. I'm at 1000 cals already and will have no problem staying under my 1500 max but I've been aiming at 1300's this week. I'm not sure about that... I keep wanting to chant "I don't care" but then I grin and say aloud "I do care." I swear it's all a mind game.
Marie

__________________Dedicated to logging every morsel for the next three months. Clearly that three months will never end.

Marie, I do update, though, whenever I am in my office, plus do the emails to myself whenever I eat anything away from home. So I am always in touch with how much & what I am eating.

Totally agree that whatever works for one individual may not work for another.

My no wheat challenge helped a lot yesterday. Survived some pretty emotional stuff without wheat triggered binge & also went to Cheesecake Factory without overeating due to avoiding anything with wheat, especially avoiding red velvet cheesecake because it had cake in it & I also think the crust of all their cheesecakes would have wheat.

Appetite was calm all day & calories in 1500s, skipped the 10,000 steps to increase healing of joints.

Am2, I'm glad you're staying in the fight. It is worth it. But I know you know that. I thought of you just a bit ago. I went to Starbucks thats in a Safeway. They're getting their Valentine day treats out for all the lovely celebrations. And what do I see??? Red Velvet White Choc Chip Cookies. Really??? Must they??? I walked quickly by and got my skinny mocha. Marie

Oh NO!!! The other day at Freddie's they were giving away cake and even said - "we don't care how many you take", I quickly did the side step.

Am2 - thanks for the heads up about 40 days to vernal equinox. Yes that's a nice amount of time for a goal. Think I will use this for inspiration too.

Tera, Florida sounds lovely for reading and walking with your DH,

Thanks everyone for your input on calories. There is so much conflicting advice out their, it's crazy, so it's nice to be able to ask someone who working on being and keeping their healthiest weight.

I'm on Day 37, counting backwards on the no wheat march to the vernal equinox.

I am cancelling the red velvet cake challenge as it seems unlikely that red velvet cake will appear to me in any wheat free form and if it should, I doubt I'll crave it.

I am not sure if I will continue wheat free (and expand on it after the Vernal Equinox but it seems likely).

It HAS been a little up and down, had some detox symptoms, which never happens when I periodically give up sugar, but thinking on it, well, wheat is the most basic thing I have eaten all of my life and all cake and donut treats that have messed with my head for the past zillion years have been made with sugar, fat, and WHEAT ... whole lotta wheat!

Diana, great job walking away from the free cake! That wouldn't be easy. I'd con myself that I was bringing it back to the office for friends. Then it would be in my mouth.

Am2, I thought the wheat-free is until the vernal equinox and the red cake challenge was until the winter solstice... I don't think I'd give up wheat if I didn't have a medical reason to do it. I'm so restricted on foods because of food allergies that I can't give up something I like that I'm not allergic to. on the loss!!!!

Calorie log since last post:
Friday: 1557 (I got into the tortilla chips...)
Saturday: 1614 (starving after an entire day skiing)
Sunday: 1434 (back to normal)

So Saturday I spent the day skiing. Really skiing. Black diamond runs and fast. I burned loads of calories (I believe the GPS ski app that tracks everything I did) so the 1600 cals was just fine with me. Yesterday I was fine (Quad wise) until DH and I took the pups for a hike. Came back and my legs were exhausted. That was a bummer. Today is my DGD's 2nd birthday so I will have cake. I'll be until the b-day party and then I'll be reasonable.
Marie

__________________Dedicated to logging every morsel for the next three months. Clearly that three months will never end.